Humidifier



l. ELLIOTT April 19, 193s.

HUMIDIFIER Filed April 5. 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATT EYS Patented Apr. 19, 1938 UNITED STATES HUDIIDIFIER Irwin Elliott,

Harmon, N. Y.

Application April 3, 1936, Serial No. 72,497

7 Claims.

I'his invention relates to a novel and improved form of humidifier, the novel features of which will be best understood from the following description and the annexed drawings, in which I have shown selected embodiments of the invention and in which:

Figs. 1, 2, and 3 are vertical sections through one embodiment of the invention showing the parts in diierent positions which they may take during the operation of thedevice;

Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional view through another embodiment of the invention.

Referring rst to Figs. 1, 2, and 3, I have shown therein a vertically extending casing I, which may be in the form of a cylinder or any other suitable shape. It is shown as divided by a horizontal partition 2 into a motor chamber 3 and a reservoir 4, in the latter of which liquid, such as water, may be placed. The normal water level of the liquid is indicated at 5.

I provide means for forming an air chamber above the reservoir and, in the illustrated embodiment, this chamber is formed by a hood 6 having vertically extending walls I which extend down into the liquid. This hood is shown as having its top secured to a rod 3 which is vertically movable in a bearing 9 mounted upon the partition 2. Reciprocation of. the rod may be caused by a crank arm I0 rotated by a motor II and having a roller I2 which is received within a slot I3 in a yoke I4. The extreme lower position of the hood is indicated in Fig. 1 and at intermediate position in Fig. 2, while in Fig. 3 the hood is shown at substantially its uppermost position but after it has started its downward movement.

Extending into the chamber above the water line is an inlet pipe I5 communicating with the atmosphere or with any other source of air, and the end of this pipe is provided with a one-Way valve I6 adapted to admit air into the chamber but prevent its reverse flo-w'from the chamber into the inlet. The chamber is provided with an outlet I'I having a valve I 8, and here shown as located in the top of the hood and which is also a one-way valve, permitting discharge of the air from the chamber but preventing reverse flow into the chamber.

Disposed adjacent the outlet I'I is a nozzle I9 adapted to atomize any liquid passing therethrough and connected to a tube extending downwardly below the water level 5 at all positions of the hood. This tube is slidably engaged with a second tube 2I mounted in brackets 22 secured on the bearing 9 and having a bottom provided with a hole 23. Disposed in the lower end of the tube is a ball check valve 24.

TheI reservoir may be provided at its top with an outlet associated with which there may be employed a suitable bale 26. The reservoir may 5 likewise be provided with a well-known watergauge 2l and also with connections 28 and 29 which may be used for circulating water continually through the reservoir.

Within the hood and in. the path of air between the inlet pipe and the outlet I'I I provide one or more screens 30. For convenience, these may extend vertically, as indicated, and preferably each screen extends below the water line 5.

In operation, and assuming that the parts are in the position shown in Fig. 1, it will be seen that both Valves I6 and I8 are closed. As the crank operates, the hood will rise and then an action will take place, such as that indicated in Fig. 2. Since the hood walls are sealed by the '2O liquid in the reservoir, the upward movement of the hood will suck air into the inlet pipe I5 and, of course, the valve I6 will be opened by the pressure of the air in the pipe I5, whereas the valve I3 will be maintained closed. At the same time, 25 the tube 20 will be moved upwardly in the tube 2i and create enough of a vacuum in the tube 2l so that the check valve 24 will be lifted to admit some liquidto the lower end of the tube 2i.

Then, as the hood starts its downward path, as indicated in Fig. 3, the valve I6 will immediately be closed and the valve I8 will be opened by the pressure of the air in the hood. At the same time, the downward movement of the tube 2i) will cause closing of the hole 23 by the check valve 24, and the liquid in the tube 2| will be pushed out through the atomizer nozzle I9 in the form of a spray, as indicated in Fig. 3. This spray is in the path of the air discharged through the outlet I'I.

The screens are initially wet, as will be seen from Fig. 1, and the air discharged from the outlet I1 is air which has passed through the wet screens, thereby being cleaned. These screens are preferably made of woven fabric or of any other suitable material, and they will carry a lm of water which serves to collect foreign matter from the air as it passes through the screens.

Continuous rotation of the crank will of course result in the repetition of the above sequence of operations.

It will be seen that the result of these operations is the admission of a charge of air to the chamber formed between the hood and the Water or other liquid in the reservoir. Thisy charge of air is cleaned and wet to some extent by pasthrough the screens, and then it is provided with additional moisture as it is discharged through the outlet as it passes through the spray from the nozzle i9.

The apparatus is an improvement over arrangements by which air is forced continuously, as by a blower, through a spray or rain of liquid. The use of blowers in humidifying air is not altogether satisfactory. The Vair handled by blowers is at low pressure and in large volume, and the operation is a continuous one. I have noticed that the humidication of the air blown through a rain of water with the ordinary blowers is every apt to be incomplete. The air appears to be moved through the rain in such large volume that the rain does not humidify and clean it properly. Whether this is because of the large volume or because of some other reason, I am not certain, but I found that by periodically cleaning a charge of air of predetermined amount, as in the above-described apparatus, and then discharging that cleaned air under positive pressure into the atmosphere, much better results are obtained. The operation may beV repeated as rapidly or as slowly as conditions require. For example, a device constructed similarly to that shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3, has been operated successfully at the rate of twenty complete operations per minute, by which twenty charges of air are properly treated and discharged into the atmosphere during each minute of operation.

The primary function of the screens 30 is to clean the air, although, of course, the air will be humidiied to some extent by passing through the chamber formed between the hood and the liquid. It can still be further humidied by passing through the spray from the nozzle I9, which spray is relied upon for the principal humidication.

In Fig. 4 I have shown how the invention may be applied to a complete air conditioning system. Here the conditioned air is received from the air circulation system at 3| and then passes through a duct 32 to an inlet pipe 33 from which it is discharged beneath the hood 34 and above the water level 35 beneath the hood. This hood is pivoted at 36 and may be vertically reciprocated about that pivot from the motor 31 having a crank 38 connected by a link 39, and an arm 40 fast on a rock shaft 4l to which is secured a second arm 42 pivoted to a link 43 at one end thereof. The other end of the link 43is pivoted to the top of the hood, and thus the hood may be rocked between the lower position shown in dotted lines and the upper position shown in dot and dash lines. It is shown in full lines in section and in intermediate position.

The top of the hood is provided with an outlet 44 closed by a one-way valve 45, and the inlet pipe 33 is likewise provided with a one-way valve 46. These valves operate in the same manner as the valves IG and i8 in the embodiment previously described, and their detailed operation will not be described again. The air passes between the inlet pipe and the outlet through screens 41 which are wet and which perform the same function in Ithe same way as the screens 30 of the other embodiment. An atomizer could be used with the hood 34 in the same manner as with the hood 6, but I have shown a slightly different arrangement in this form. Here the spray is provided from an atomizing nozzle 43 by a pump unit 49 which draws Water from the bottom of the reservoir and discharges it through the nozzle 48.

Within the duct 32 is disposed a source of heat, here indicated as a conduit 49, through which hot gases and the like may pass from the oil burner 50, on their way to the ue 5I which communi- Cates with a chimney. The conduit 49 may be provided with fins, as indicated, to aid in imparting heat to the air in the duct 32.

By the above described arrangement, the air is reconditioned by passing over the fins and the walls of the conduit 49, and then by being cleaned by passageY through the screens in the chamber under the hood 34, and finally it is humidied by passing through the spray from the` nozzle 48 on its way tothe pipes 52 of the air circulation system. These pipes may be provided with dampers 53 so that the amount of air passing through any one pipe may be readily controlled.

By the use of my invention in such a system as shown in Fig. 4, several advantages are gained. By avoiding the use of centrifugal blowers or the like, and by passing charges of air into the system at a relatively high pressure, it is possible to more easily direct the conditioned air to the place to which it is desired to send it. Smaller pipes may be used in the system, and the flow of air in those pipes will be more easily controlled by dampers or other valves than when larger pipes with relatively large volume of low-pressure air are used.

The atomizer nozzle 48 may be controlled by any suitable automatic control, such as usually identified by the term humidistat, Such controls kare Well known in the art, and a detailed description thereof is not deemed necessary.

While I have shown the invention as embodied in speciiic forms, it is to be understood that various changes in details may be made without departing from the scope of the invention, as dened by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A humidifier comprising a reservoir for liquid, means forming a chamber above said liquid in the reservoir, an inlet adapted to admit air into said chamber and an outlet adapted to discharge air therefrom, one-way valves preventing reverse flow of air through said inlet and outlet, means for causing periodic opening and closing of said valves to admit air to said chamber and later to discharge it therefrom, one or more screens disposed in said chamber in the path of air passing therethrough, and means for maintaining said screens wet.V

2. A humidifier comprising a reservoir for liquid, means forming a chamber above said liquid in the reservoir, an inlet adapted to admit air into said chamber and an outlet adapted to discharge air therefrom, one-Way valves preventing reverse flow of air through said inlet and outlet, means for causing periodic opening and closing of said valves to admit air to said chamber and later to discharge it therefrom, means forming a spray of liquid in the path of the air thus discharged at said outlet, one or more screens disposed in said chamber in the path of air passing therethrough, and means for maintaining said screens wet.

3. A humidifier comprising a reservoir for liquid, a hood disposed above the liquid in said reservoir and having vertically disposed walls extending downwardly into said liquid, means to reciprocate said hood vertically, a one-way outlet valve in said hood adapted to be opened to discharge air by the pressure within the hood when the hood is moved downwardly, an inlet pipe adapted to discharge air into the hood, a one-way valve in said inlet pipe adapted to be opened to admit air by the decrease in pressure within the hood when the hood is moved upwardly, and one or more screens within the hood in the path of air passing between the inlet and the outlet and in position to be wet by the liquid during said reciprocation of the hood.

4. A humidifier comprising a reservoir for liquid, a hood disposed above the liquid in said reservoir and having vertically disposed walls extending downwardly into said liquid, means to reciprocate said hood vertically, a one-way out let valve in said hood adapted to be opened to discharge air by the pressure within the hood when the hood is moved downwardly, an inlet pipe adapted to discharge air into the hood, a one-way valve in said inlet. pipe adapted to be opened to admit air by the decrease .in pressure within the hood when the hood is moved upwardly, one or more screens within the hood in the path of air passing between the inlet and the outlet and in position to be wet by the liquid during said reciprocation of the hood, and means forming a spray of liquid in the path of the air thus discharged at said outlet.

5. A humidier comprising a reservoir for liquid, a hood disposed above the liquid in said reservoir and having vertically disposed walls extending downwardly into said liquid, means to reciprocate said hood vertically, a one-way outlet valve in said hood adapted to be opened to discharge air by the pressure within the hood when the hood is moved downwardly, an inlet pipe adapted to discharge air into the hood, a one-way valve in said inlet pipe adapted to be opened to admit air by the decrease in pressure within the hood when the hood is moved upwardly, one or more screens within the hood in the path of air passing between the inlet and the outlet and in position to be wet by the liquid during said rcciprocation of the hood, means forming a spray of liquid in the path of the air thus discharged at said outlet, a source of heat disposed beneath said reservoir, and an air duct arranged to be heated by said source of heat and communieating with said inlet pipe.

6. A humidier comprising a reservoir for liquid, a hood disposed above the liquid in said reservoir and having vertically disposed walls extending downwardly into said liquid, means to reciprocate said hood vertically, an inlet pipe adapted to discharge air into the upper part of the hood above the normal liquid level therein, a one-way valve in said inlet pipe adapted to be opened to admit air to the hood by the decrease in pressure within the hood when the hood is moved upwardly, and a one-way outlet valve in the top of said hood adaptedto be opened to discharge air from the hood by the pressure within the hood when the hood is moved downwardly.

'7. A humidifier comprising a reservoir for liquid, a hood disposed above the liquid in said reservoir and having vertically disposed Walls extending downwardly into said liquid, means to reciprocate said hood vertically, an inlet pipe adapted to discharge air into the upper vpart of the hood above the normal liquid level therein, a one-way valve in said inlet pipe adapted to be opened to admit air to the hood by the decrease in pressure within the hood when the hood is moved upwardly, a one-way outlet valve in the top of said hood adapted to be opened to discharge air from the hood by the pressure within the hood when the hood is moved downwardly, and means forming a spray of liquid in the path of the air thus discharged from the outlet valve.

IRWIN ELLIOTT. 

